Gay rights in Canada have
come a long way considering people went to jail for being a homosexual
just over 30 years ago.

1965Everett Klippert acknowledges
to police that he is gay, has had sex with men over a 24-year period, and
is unlikely to change. In 1967, Klippert is sent to prison indefinitely
as a "dangerous sex offender," a sentence which was backed up by the Supreme
Court of Canada that same year.

1967 December 22Justice Minister Pierre
Trudeau proposes amendments to the Criminal Code which, among other things,
would relax the laws against homosexuality. Discussing the amendments Trudeau
says,"It's certainly the most
extensive revision of the Criminal Code since the 1950s and, in terms of
the subject matter it deals with, I feel that it has knocked down a lot
of totems and over-ridden a lot of taboos and I feel that in that sense
it is new. It's bringing the laws of the land up to contemporary society
I think. Take this thing on homosexuality. I think the view we take here
is that there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation. I
think that what's done in private between adults doesn't concern the Criminal
Code. When it becomes public this is a different matter, or when it relates
to minors this is a different matter."

1977 December 16Quebec includes sexual orientation
in its Human Rights Code, making it the first province in Canada to pass
a gay civil rights law. The law makes it illegal to discriminate against
gays in housing, public accommodation and employment. By 2001, all provinces
and territories have taken this step except Alberta, Prince Edward Island,
and the Northwest Territories, although P.E.I. is looking into making legislative
changes relating to sexual orientation.

1978 January 5The Pink Triangle Press
(now publisher of Xtra magazine) is charged with "possession of obscene
material for the purpose of distribution" and "the use of mails for the
purpose of transmitting anything that is obscene, indecent or scurrilous"
for publishing an article titled "Men Loving Boys Loving Men" in the Dec.
1977/Jan. 1978 issue of The Body Politic.

After almost six years in
the courts, including two trials, the case is finally resolved when on
Oct. 15, 1983 the deadline passes for the Crown to appeal the second court
acquittal. (In the first trial, The Pink Triangle Press had also won an
acquittal but upon appeal the Crown won a retrial.)

The case results in an important
precedent. On June 15, 1982, Judge Thomas Mercer, the judge for the second
trial, rules that the article "does, in fact, advocate pedophilia," but
says, "It is perfectly legal to advocate what in itself would be unacceptable
to most Canadians."

1978Canada gets a new Immigration
Act. Under the act, being a homosexual is removed from the list of inadmissible
classes.

1979The Canadian Human Rights
Commission recommends in its Annual Report that "sexual orientation" be
added to the Canadian Human Rights Act.

1980 May 2Bill C-242, an act to prohibit
discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, gets its first reading
in the House of Commons by MP Pat Carney. The bill, which would have inserted
"sexual orientation" into the Canadian Human Rights Act, doesn't pass.

MP Svend Robinson introduces
similar bills in 1983, 1985 1986, 1989, and 1991. In 1991, Robinson tries
to get the definition of "spouse" in the Income Tax Act and Canada Pension
Plan Act to include "or of the same sex." The following year he also tries
to get the "opposite sex" definition of "spouse" removed from Bill C-55
which would add the definition to survivor benefits provisions of federal
pension legislation. All the proposed bills are defeated.

1981 February 5More than 300 men are arrested
following police raids at four gay bath houses in Toronto, the largest
mass arrest since the War Measures Act was invoked during the October Crisis.
The next night, about 3,000 people march in downtown Toronto to protest
the arrests. This is considered to be Canada's Stonewall. (See world timeline
for the 1969 "Stonewall Riots" in the U.S.)

1985 OctoberThe Parliamentary Committee
on Equality Rights releases a report titled "Equality for All." The committee
writes that it is shocked by the high level of discriminatory treatment
of homosexuals in Canada. The report discusses the harassment, violence,
physical abuse, psychological oppression and hate propaganda that homosexuals
live with. The committee recommends that the Canadian Human Rights Act
be changed to make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation.

In March, 1986, the government
responds to the report in a paper titled "Toward Equality" in which it
writes "the government will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure
that sexual orientation is a prohibited ground of discrimination in relation
to all areas of federal jurisdiction."

1988Svend Robinson, of the New
Democratic Party, goes public about being gay, becoming the first Member
of Parliament to do so. Robinson was first elected to the House of Commons
in 1979. In 2000, the B.C. riding of Burnaby-Douglas (though its borders
have changed) elected Robinson for the eighth time.

1991Delwin Vriend, a lab instructor
at King's University College in Edmonton, Alberta, is fired from his job
because he is gay. The Alberta Human Rights Commission refuses to investigate
the case because discrimination based on sexual orientation isn't covered
by the Alberta Individual Rights Protection Act.Vriend takes the government
of Alberta to court and, in 1994, the court rules that sexual orientation
must be added to the act. The government wins on appeal in 1996 and the
decision is overturned.

In November 1997, the case
went to the Supreme Court of Canada and on April 2, 1998 the high court
unanimously ruled that the exclusion of homosexuals from the province's
Individual Rights Protection Act violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Supreme Court said that effective immediately the act would be interpreted
to include homosexuals even if the province doesn't change it. The Alberta
government chose not to use the notwithstanding clause despite pressure
from conservative and religious groups.

1992 AugustIn Haig and Birch v. Canada,
the Ontario Court of Appeal rules that the failure to include sexual orientation
in the Canadian Human Rights Act is discriminatory. Federal Justice Minister
Kim Campbell responds to the decision by announcing the government would
take the necessary steps to include sexual orientation in the Canadian
Human Rights Act.

1992 NovemberThe federal court lifts
the country's ban on homosexuals in the military, allowing gays and lesbians
to serve in the armed forces.

1992 December 9As promised, Justice Minister
Kim Campbell introduces Bill C-108 which would add "sexual orientation"
to the Canadian Human Rights Act. But the act, which would also restrict
the definition of "marital status" to opposite-sex couples, doesn't pass
first reading. On June 3, 1993, the Senate passes Bill S-15, another
attempt at adding "sexual orientation" to the Canadian Human Rights Act,
but the bill doesn't make it to the House of Commons because Parliament
is dissolved for the 1993 federal election.

1993 February 23 In the Mossop case,
the Supreme Court of Canada rules that the denial of bereavement leave
to a gay partner was not discrimination based on family status defined
in the Canadian Human Rights Act. The case wasn't a complete loss to homosexuals
though. Two of the judges found the term "family status" was broad enough
to include same-sex couples living together in a long-term relationship.
The Supreme Court also noted that if section 15 of the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms had been argued, the ruling might have been different.

1995 MayThe Supreme Court rules
on the case involving Jim Egan and Jack Nesbit, two gay men who sued Ottawa
for the right to claim a spousal pension under the Old Age Security Act.
The Court ruled against Egan and Nesbit. However, all nine judges agreed
that sexual orientation is a protected ground and that the protection extends
to partnerships of lesbians and gay men.

An Ontario Court judge finds
that the Child and Family Services Act of Ontario infringes section 15
of the Charter by not allowing same-sex couples to bring a joint application
for adoption. He rules that four lesbians have the right to adopt their
pertners' children. Ontario becomes the first province to make it legal
for same-sex couples to adopt.

British Columbia, Alberta
and Nova Scotia followed suit, also allowing adoption by same-sex couples.
Other provinces are looking into the issue.

1996The federal government passes
Bill C-33 which adds "sexual orientation" to the Canadian Human Rights
Act.

1999 MayThe Supreme Court of Canada
rules same-sex couples should have the same benefits and obligations as
opposite-sex common-law couples and equal access to benefits from social
programs to which they contribute.

The ruling centred on the
"M v. H" case which involved two Toronto women who had lived together for
more than a decade. When the couple broke up in 1992, "M" sued "H" for
spousal support under Ontario's Family Law Act. The problem was that the
act defined "spouse" as a either a married couple or "a man and woman"
who are unmarried and have lived together for no less than three years.

The judge ruled that the
definition violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and declared that
the words "a man and woman" should be replaced with "two persons." "H"
appealed the decision. The Court of Appeal upheld the deision but suspended
gave Ontario one year to amend its Family Law Act.

Although neither "M" nor
"H" chose to take the case any further, Ontario's attorney general was
granted leave to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal which brought
the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Supreme Court ruled that
the Ontario Family Law Act's definition of "spouse" as a person of the
opposite sex was unconstitutional as was any provincial law that denies
equal benefits to same-sex couples. Ontario was given six months to amend
the act.

1999 June 8Although many laws will
have to be revised to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling in May, the
federal government votes 216 to 55 in favour of preserving the definition
of "marriage" as the union of a man and a woman. Justice Minister Anne
McLellan says the definition of marriage is already clear in law and the
federal government has "no intention of changing the definition of marriage
or legislating same-sex marriage."

1999 October 25Attorney General Jim Flaherty
introduces Bill 5 in the Ontario Legislature, an act to amend certain statutes
because of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in the M. v. H. case. Instead
of changing the province's definition of spouse, which the Supreme Court
essentially struck down, the government creates a new same-sex category,
changing the province's Family Law Act to read "spouse or same-sex partner"
wherever it had read only "spouse" before. Bill 5 also amends more than
60 other provincial laws, making the rights and responsibilities of same-sex
couples mirror those of common-law couples.

2000 February 11Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's
Liberals introduce Bill C-23, the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations
Act, in response to the Supreme Court's May 1999 ruling. The act would
give same-sex couples who have lived together for more than a year the
same benefits and obligations as common-law couples.

In March, Justice Minister
Anne McLellan announces the bill would include a definition of marriage
as "the lawful union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others."

April 11, 2000,
Parliament passes Bill C-23, with a vote of 174 to 72. The legislation
gives same-sex couples the same social and tax benefits as heterosexuals
in common-law relationships.

In total, the bill affects
68 federal statutes relating to a wide range of issues such as pension
benefits, old age security, income tax deductions, bankruptcy protection
and the Criminal Code. The definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" are left
untouched but the definition of "common-law relationship" is expanded to
include same-sex couples.

2000 March 16Alberta passes Bill 202
which says that the province will use the notwithstanding clause if a court
redefines marriage to include anything other than a man and a women.

2000 July 21British Columbia's Attorney
General Andrew Petter announces he will ask the courts for guidance on
whether Canada's ban on same-sex marriages is constitutional, making his
province the first to do so. Toronto was the first Canadian city to ask
for clarification on the issue when it did so in May, 2000.

2000 December 10Rev. Brent Hawkes of the
Metropolitan Community Church in Toronto reads the first "banns" - an old
Christian tradition of publishing or giving public notice of people's intent
to marry - for two same-sex couples. Hawkes says that if the banns are
read on three Sundays before the wedding, he can legally marry the couples.

The reading of banns is meant
to be an opportunity for anyone who might oppose a wedding to come forward
with objections before the ceremony. No one came forward on the first Sunday
but the next week two people stood up to object, including Rev. Ken Campbell
who called the procedure "lawless and Godless." However, Hawkes dismissed
the objections and read the banns for the third time the following Sunday.

Consumer Minister Bob Runciman
says Ontario will not recognize same-sex marriages. He says no matter what
Hawkes' church does, the federal law is clear. "It won't qualify to be
registered because of the federal legislation which clearly defines marriage
as a union between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others."

The two same-sex couples
are married on January 14, 2001. The following day, Runciman reiterates
the government's position, saying the marriages will not be legally recognized.

Hearings for other cases
where gay couples want the right to get married are expected to begin in
British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec in the summer of 2001.

2002 May 10

Marc HallOntario Superior Court Justice
Robert McKinnon rules that a gay student has the right to take his boyfriend
to the prom.

Earlier, the Durham Catholic
District School Board said student Marc Hall couldn't bring his 21-year-old
boyfriend to the dance at Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic high school in
Oshawa. Officials acknowledged that Hall has the right to be gay, but said
permitting the date would send a message that the Church supports his "homosexual
lifestyle."

Hall went to the prom, however
the court injunction allowing him to go was temporary. Both sides say they
are willing to return to court.

2002 July 12For the first time a Canadian
court rules in favour of recognizing same-sex marriages under the law.
The Ontario Superior Court rules that prohibiting gay couples from marrying
is unconstitutional and violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The
court gave Ontario two years to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

In Alberta, as a result of
the Ontario ruling, the government passed a bill that bans same-sex marriages
and defines marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. The province
says it will use the notwithstanding clause to avoid recognizing same-sex
marriages if Ottawa amends the Marriage Act.

Also, a ruling against gay
marriages is expected to be heard in B.C. by the province's Court of Appeal
early next year, and a judge in Montreal is to rule on a similar case.

2002 July 16On July 16, Ontario decided
not to appeal the court ruling, saying only the federal government can
decide who can marry.

2002 July 29On July 29, the federal
government announced it will seek leave to appeal the Ontario court ruling
"to seek further clarity on these issues." Federal Justice Minister Martin
Cauchon said in a news release, "At present, there is no consensus, either
from the courts or among Canadians, on whether or how the laws require
change."

2002 August 1Toronto City Council passes
a resolution calling the common-law definition restricting marriage to
opposite sex couples discriminatory.